


This week on the Repair Shop: a Time Turner, a Victorian Portrait, and an antique wardrobe

by hangingfire



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde, The Repair Shop (UK TV)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, If you can't write ridiculous crossovers for Yuletide then when can you?, Never thought I'd be interested in writing RPF and yet here we are, Screenplay/Script Format, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hangingfire/pseuds/hangingfire
Summary: Lucia turns her talents to a lost Victorian masterpiece. Will’s abilities will be tested by a special wardrobe, and Steve has an extremely unusual timepiece.
Comments: 50
Kudos: 119
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	This week on the Repair Shop: a Time Turner, a Victorian Portrait, and an antique wardrobe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Orockthro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orockthro/gifts).



NARRATOR:

This week on The Repair Shop: Lucia turns her talents to a lost Victorian masterpiece. Will's abilities will be tested by a special wardrobe. But first, Steve has an extremely unusual timepiece.

* * *

STEVE:

Hi, I'm Steve, pleasure to meet you.

HERMIONE:

Hermione Granger-Weasley, lovely to meet you, Steve.

STEVE:

So what have you got for me today?

HERMIONE:

This is a Time Turner.

STEVE:

Is it really? My gosh, I've heard of them, but this is the first time I've ever seen one.

HERMIONE:

You can see this one's seen better days.

STEVE:

Ah, yeah, it's a bit—

HERMIONE:

A bit stiff, yeah. And a bit flat.

STEVE:

So what's the story with this?

HERMIONE:

Well, when I was a girl, one of my professors loaned it to me when I was undertaking a particularly challenging term. Now you can imagine, an adolescent girl ... I didn't exactly make the best use of it! But despite all that, when she passed away a few years back, Professor McGonagall left it to me. I ... I don't really know what happened to it, between the time I had it at school and when she passed away, but I think it's had a few adventures, don't you?

STEVE:

It has, it has. What would it mean to you to have it fixed?

HERMIONE:

Well, Professor McGonagall was just—she was just an enormous influence on my life, and it means the absolute world to me that she would leave this to me. We went through a lot, you know, back in the 1990s, it's just—it's got so many memories, good and bad, of people I still have in my life and those who are gone. I think by getting it restored, it'll honour—I'm sorry, I'm getting a little emotional—it'll honour all of their memories ... And, well, everyone needs a little extra time, don't they?

STEVE:

Well, if you'll leave it with us, I'll see what I can do.

HERMIONE:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

* * *

HERMIONE:

The Time Turner is truly—it's just such a precious item. Professor McGonagall was like another parent to me, she was my mentor, and I was just so overwhelmed when I learnt she'd left it to me. And I'd just really like to see it working again.

* * *

STEVE:

Well, this is a lot more challenging than your average clockwork, and not just because of, you know, the magic. You can see here, the pins—they're quite bent ... It's almost as if it's been sat on at some point! So I think the first thing I need to do is get all the pieces straightened out and moving properly again, and then ... We'll have to get someone in for the charms, because that's not my forte—

JAY:

I thought you were a wizard, Steve!

STEVE:

Not that kind!

* * *

NARRATOR:

Next in the Repair Shop is Gwendolen Wotton, with a remarkable piece of Victorian portraiture. It will need the attentions of Lucia Scalisi, the Repair Shop's expert painting conservator.

JAY:

You must be Gwendolen.

GWENDOLEN:

Yes, hello, pleased to meet you.

JAY:

I'm Jay, and this is Lucia, and—this is yours, isn't it?

GWENDOLEN:

It is, it is.

JAY:

Blimey, that is one massive portrait. What can you tell us about it?

GWENDOLEN:

My great-great-great uncle, Henry Wotton, was friends with the painter Basil Hallward—

LUCIA:

Hallward?!

GWENDOLEN:

Yes, yes—

JAY:

Now hang on, hang on, it sounds like there's even more of a story here.

GWENDOLEN:

Yes, it was quite a famous scandal. Basil Hallward, he made a name for himself with his society portraits and salon paintings, and he disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1892—it's still an unsolved mystery. There was quite a big to-do over his estate, and eventually it was broken up to pay off his creditors, and a number of the paintings have been lost. We think that must be when this painting came into our family—like I said, my great-great-great uncle was Hallward's friend, but as far as we know, he never displayed this painting—in fact, we didn't know we had it until my granddad sold off Henry's town house and was cleaning it out—he found this painting crated up in the attic. My dad wanted to get it restored, but we could never find anyone willing to take it on.

LUCIA:

It's remarkable. I see there in the corner—that's Hallward's signature, right there—he always signed his paintings in red. 

GWENDOLEN:

That's right.

LUCIA:

It's quite dirty, isn't it? You can barely make out the poor gentleman's features anymore. And that's a very nasty tear, right down the middle. Do you know how it got there?

GWENDOLEN:

Not at all—it was like that when my granddad found it. If this painting could talk, you know?

JAY:

What would it mean for you, to have this restored?

GWENDOLEN:

It's a link to my family history—one we're pretty proud of, actually. I think this painting must have been tied up with some complicated feelings for Henry Wotton, since he never displayed it or had it repaired, and my granddad and dad always wanted to see it whole, and I think—I think it would be good to have that link back again.

LUCIA:

Well, it will be a true honour to work on this. It needs a good cleaning, and then I can repair the tear in it ... I'll see what I can do.

GWENDOLEN:

Thank you.

* * *

GWENDOLEN:

It's such a fascinating painting, and it's a real shame that no one ever seems to have been able to give it the love it deserves. My granddad—he passed away when I was only little, and I know he'd have loved to see it repaired. Getting it restored—it'll mean the world to my dad, and it'll be such an unusual link to the past!

* * *

NARRATOR:

Steve is getting to work on the damaged Time Turner.

STEVE:

I've taken it down to the gears, and luckily nothing's missing. Mostly it's just a matter of straightening out the moving parts, and then fitting them back together again. But you can see as well how the chain is broken.

NARRATOR:

Steve is going to need to call in the assistance of the Repair Shop's fellow expert in small metal objects, silversmith Brenton West.

BRENTON:

Steve, what can I do you for?

STEVE:

This chain, it's in need of a new clasp, and you can see here, these links are pretty well crushed and need replacing.

BRENTON:

Oh, that's a lovely thing, isn't it? Georgian?

STEVE:

At least.

BRENTON:

This should be simple enough. I'll get on that.

STEVE:

Thanks—much obliged.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Lucia's first challenge is to remove the massive painting from its frame, to see how the canvas has held up.

LUCIA:

These old Victorian frames—they're a work of art all on their own. Will, can you come over here?

WILL:

What've you got?

LUCIA:

This frame—gilt wood, you see?

WILL:

That's pretty dusty, isn't it?

LUCIA:

It really is. Do you think you could give it a clean?

WILL:

You bet. I'll get it over to my bench.

LUCIA:

Now as for the painting itself ... The canvas is really sound, which is good, and it doesn't look like I'll have to remove it from the stretcher—which is no small thing for a painting this size! First thing is getting all the dirt off. I don't really fancy doing a spit clean on this big of a canvas, so I'll be using a very gentle cleaner, and I'm just going to have to take my time.

* * *

  


NARRATOR:

The afternoon brings a challenge for furniture restorer Will Kirk. Pauline Lewis brings in a beloved antique in need of some TLC.

JAY:

Hello, Pauline, I'm Jay, and this is Will—he's going to be your man for this job.

WILL:

Nice to meet you, Pauline. Tell me what we're looking at here?

PAULINE:

This wardrobe belonged to my gran, Susan. When she was a little girl, she and her brothers and sister were evacuated to the country during World War II, where they went to live in a big old house in Dorset. They became fast friends with the gentleman who owned the house, and they were all quite distraught when the house had to be sold and was demolished. My gran was a brilliant, lovely woman, but she had quite a sad life in some ways—she lived through the War, of course, and then in the Fifties, her siblings all died in a railway accident. When she was a young woman, she began searching all over Dorset and London for anything left of the old house, and she found this wardrobe in the back of a junk shop. I think they were about to throw it on the tip.

JAY:

How did she know it was from the house?

PAULINE:

Well, do you see the carvings there, and along the doors?

WILL: 

That's—the main body of the wardrobe is oak, isn't it? But those bits, they're not oak.

PAULINE:

No, it's apple. And it's all very distinctive, which is how she recognised it. According to my gran, there was an apple tree on Professor Kirke's property that he was very fond of, and it blew over in a storm. He was quite gutted by it, so he had the wood from that tree, along with an old oak that also went over in the same storm—he had it made into this wardrobe.

WILL:

Those carvings are really unique, aren't they? Whoever did them really knew their stuff.

PAULINE:

They really did. I've always loved looking at them; they make me think of fantastical worlds and fairy tales.

WILL:

Now, what would you like us to do with this?

PAULINE:

Well, you can see the years in the junk shop weren't very kind to it, and probably whoever moved it out of the house didn't do it very gently. You can see all the scratches, the hinges on this side are pretty shot, and I think that's water damage down the side, and you can see here where the carvings are starting to become detached. And this is the only way I've ever known it. The knocks are part of the history—it needn't be entirely pristine, but I'd like to see it more like my gran did when she was a girl—it should be beautiful again.

JAY:

And what would it mean for you, to get this repaired?

PAULINE:

My gran loved this wardrobe, even in this state. It reminded her of her siblings, after all, and the adventures they had in the countryside in the war. She's gone now—she died back in 2010—and she never got to see it restored to its former glory, or really used as a proper wardrobe again either. I was really close to her, and I always wished I'd known her siblings so—this wardrobe, it's my only real connection to that part of the family. And it would be lovely to have it the way it was when my gran was a little girl.

JAY:

Well, it's in good hands with WIll.

WILL:

I'll do everything I can to do your gran proud.

* * *

PAULINE:

I'm quite scared, to be honest, leaving the wardrobe! It's very precious to the family, and I hope they can make it shine the way my gran said it once did. She was a brilliant woman—she taught theology at Cambridge—and I was really, really close to her growing up. I really miss her, and the wardrobe ... It makes me feel close to her still.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Meanwhile Steve is putting the finishing touches on the Time Turner.

BRENTON:

Here you go—one repaired chain

STEVE:

Ah—lovely, lovely! Now, let's thread that through here, and—perfect.

NARRATOR:

The last thing Steve needs is to make sure the Time Turner's spells are intact. He's called in the services of Constance Pickering, an expert in wizarding charms.

STEVE:

So what do you think?

CONSTANCE:

Well, the first thing I need to do is make sure the enchantments are intact. Yes, Yes, very good, you see that glow? Nice and even. Now, let's give it a practical test.

STEVE:

Wow!

CONSTANCE:

Perfect working order. Brilliant craftsmanship there, it really is. Very well done restoring it.

STEVE:

Thank you, thank you very much. I expect Hermione will be delighted.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Will is hard at work on a handmade Edwardian wardrobe, a survivor of the demolition of the country house where it once resided.

WILL:

We're really lucky with these carvings, that they're all intact, even if they're coming off. I need to get them reattached, but first I need to give this all a good clean, take care of that water damage ...

JAY:

How's it going?

WILL:

Aw, look at this.

JAY:

More water damage on the inside bottom there?

WILL:

Yeah, it's like someone put their wet boots down there or something, lots of times.

JAY:

It's seen better days, eh?

WILL:

That it has. Also—Steve? Can you have a look at this?

STEVE:

What've you got?

WILL:

The lock on this thing—

STEVE:

Oh, that's well shot, that is.

WILL:

The key's gone too. Think you can get it working again?

STEVE:

Leave it to me.

* * *

NARRATOR:

With the painting clean, Lucia can now turn her attention to the tear.

LUCIA:

This is a very clean tear, as you can see. There's almost no flaking around the edges, which is lucky. It's almost like someone just slashed it with a knife! I'm going to take a little of the extra canvas from the back here and create a patch, and then I can get a better sense of how much restoration I need to do.

NARRATOR:

Now that she has the patch in place, Lucia can begin restoring the missing paint.

LUCIA:

I'm using this gesso to fill in the crack, as it were, and then I'll be going back over it to match the missing paint. It's quite a challenge—you can see here how fine Hallward's brushstrokes were? They're remarkable—he was remarkable, and it's only because so many of his works were lost that he's not more famous than, say, Whistler or Sargent, who were his contemporaries.

NARRATOR:

It takes time and great deal of precise effort, but Lucia's efforts make the damage disappear.

JAY:

How are you coming here?

LUCIA:

Well, I think I've almost got our young man fixed.

JAY:

Where was the repair?

LUCIA:

There.

JAY:

Gosh, that's good. It's almost like it stitched itself up, well done! He's a striking looking fellow, eh? Blimey, he cleaned up nice.

LUCIA:

Didn't he just? He really is beautiful. I wonder who he was.

JAY:

There's nothing on the painting?

LUCIA:

Nothing at all. There's a date on the back, and Hallward's signature, but nothing about who the subject was. It's not Henry Wotton—we have photographs of him and this clearly isn't him—but I've no idea who this could be.

WILL:

Lucia! Got your frame.

LUCIA:

Oh, that looks magnificent.

WILL:

None of the gilt needed repair—just a deep clean and wax. It's all ready for your gentleman.

LUCIA:

Give me a hand?

WILL:

Surely.

JAY:

I'll leave you to it.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Hermione is on her way to see whether Steve has been able to turn back time for her Time Turner.

HERMIONE:

I'm quite nervous, actually! It's such an important thing, and also it's a bit—you know, we don't usually take magical artifacts to non-magical repairpersons, but I know Steve's brilliant, and ... Yes, I'm excited. Nervous and excited.

* * *

STEVE:

Hermione, welcome back!

HERMIONE:

Hello.

STEVE:

Tell me, what did your Time Turner look like when you brought it in?

HERMIONE:

Well, it had been very badly bent, and none of the gears really worked properly anymore—oh, and the chain, of course, the chain had snapped.

STEVE:

Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

HERMIONE:

Oh! Oh, my goodness, it's—it's just like I remember from when I was a girl. Oh, it's so beautiful! Look how it shines. Can I pick it up? Gosh. Oh, it just ... It brings back so many memories. I'm overwhelmed, I really ... Gosh.

STEVE:

Well, it was a real pleasure to work on. Brenton did a lovely job with that clasp and the chain.

HERMIONE:

He really did.

STEVE:

And Constance said the spellwork is absolutely intact, works perfectly.

HERMIONE:

That's wonderful, it really is. Thank you. Thank you so much.

STEVE:

It was an honour, it was. I'll box that up for you, shall I?

* * *

HERMIONE:

Seeing that Time Turner again ... It took me right back to my schooldays. I think Professor McGonagall would be pleased as punch to see it working again. And when my kids are old enough—I look forward to showing them how to use it. Carefully!

* * *

NARRATOR:

Steve has been working on the lock from the wardrobe that Will is lovingly restoring.

STEVE:

Here you go. And I found a key that should do you just fine.

WILL:

Brilliant. You the man, Steve. Right. So I've sanded and touched up the stain on the water-damaged bits and I'm putting a fresh coat of wax on. Once I get the lock back on, I can mount the doors again.

JAY:

Look at this!

WILL:

What d'you think?

JAY:

These carvings—they really are something, aren't they? Look at all the detail you can see now!

WILL:

It's amazing, isn't it? The lion in particular—beautiful.

JAY:

So what have you got left?

WILL:

I've got the doors, and I've also cut a new hanging rod as well. I think Pauline's going to be really, really pleased when she sees it.

JAY:

Good man.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Gwendolen has returned to see her family's heirloom painting, accompanied by her father, Vyvyan Wotton. When she brought in the painting, it had suffered from years of storage and neglect, as well as a nasty tear. Now Lucia has brought it back to life.

GWENDOLEN:

I'm very, very excited, and ... To tell you the truth, I'm also a little sad? Because my granddad would have loved to see it, and I'm so sorry he can't be here to see it.

VYVYAN:

He really would have loved it. He was very passionate about the family history, and particularly Henry's art patronage.

* * *

LUCIA:

Gwendolen, hello.

GWENDOLEN:

Hello, hello, this is my father, Vyvyan—his father found the painting.

JAY:

So what was it like, when you brought it in?

GWENDOLEN:

It was in a state, wasn't it? All that dust and dirt and that rip right down the middle.

LUCIA:

Well, I have to say, it was an absolute privilege to work on this. To restore a genuine Hallward—it's been a gift. Shall we have a look?

VYVYAN:

My god!

GWENDOLEN:

Oh—oh my god, oh my god! It's just ... It's beautiful.

VYVYAN:

I can't even see where it was torn!

GWENDOLEN:

He's so handsome, isn't he? Look at that face, and such a lovely innocent expression. Extraordinary.

VYVYAN:

Did you find out who he was?

LUCIA:

I'm afraid I couldn't—there wasn't anything on the painting to say.

VYVYAN:

Well, maybe that's our next project, Gwen!

GWENDOLEN:

Finding out who he is! Oh, Lucia, thank you, thank you so much. My granddad would be thrilled.

VYVYAN:

And so would Henry.

* * *

GWENDOLEN:

It's just amazing to see that painting ... I can only imagine it must have looked exactly like that on the day Basil Hallward finished it! And now—genealogy's one of my dad's passions, so now we're going to find out who our young man is. And that will be much easier, now that we can finally see his face properly!

* * *

NARRATOR:

When Pauline brought in this Edwardian wardrobe, it had suffered badly from years in a junk shop. Will has restored it to its original beauty. Now it's time to send the wardrobe to its new home in Pauline's house in Suffolk. Pauline's daughter Lucy and son Peter are here to see it as well.

PAULINE:

Well, here we go ... Oh. Oh.

PETER:

Mum, it's gorgeous!

PAULINE:

Oh, my gran, she'd have been so ... Oh, I'm so sad she's not here. She must be looking down on us smiling now. It's beautiful!

LUCY:

Look at the lion there!

PETER:

And that horse—it's so lively, like it could just jump right off the door.

PAULINE:

Oh, it's so wonderful. I never imagined—Gran would have just been over the moon. It's so lovely. So lovely to have this—this connection to her, but to the family I never knew, and their childhood experiences during the war, it's truly incredible.

LUCY:

The smell inside, it's wonderful, it's like a pine forest in winter.

PAULINE:

I'm so thrilled. So thrilled. It's just a marvellous, marvellous thing. I'm so happy to have it back, and to know that Lucy and Peter will have it, and their descendants and theirs ... It's wonderful. Utterly, utterly wonderful.

* * *

NARRATOR:

Join us next time on the Repair Shop, where memories are revived, precious heirlooms restored, and the past is brought back to life.

**Author's Note:**

> So here I was, all set to relax after finishing my Yuletide goals for the year, when I decided to chill with Season 3 of _The Repair Shop_. "Hm," I mused, "I wonder if someone nominated and requested _The Repair Shop_ RPF for Yuletide?"
> 
> Ask silly questions, get plotbunny answers, I guess?
> 
> Many thanks to [Vae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vae) for the beta-read. Happy Yuletide, [Orockthro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orockthro)!
> 
> [Yuletide reveal post](https://hangingfire.tumblr.com/post/639148712851062784), for anyone interested.


End file.
